


A Dangerous Business

by psychicdreams



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Little bit of angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-29
Updated: 2007-01-02
Packaged: 2018-07-10 17:33:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6997993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychicdreams/pseuds/psychicdreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dangerous client of Yuuko's. What's wrong with Himawari? What look is that in Doumeki's eyes? Why do these things relate? And why does Watanuki feel like the safety in his world might be ending soon?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N 2016: A very old story of mine. Most of the old ones on here will be long before the manga ever ended. So some of these fics will not know that Doumeki's grandfather's name was Shizuka, etc. This is set around volume 7

The weather was supposed to be sunny, but that was obviously a lie. Every inch of Doumeki was soaked and it didn't help that he hadn't had time to even change out of his uniform, complete with long sleeved jacket. Unlike most times when it rained, it was a rare warm rain so at least he wasn't shivering, but that was a small consolation. At least he could hide his annoyance at being dragged out with his bow in the downpour. Watanuki, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to stop talking. He alternated with shouting at the sky and muttering something about "dire retributions" and "cruel jokes" under his breath.

Doumeki’s face didn't even twitch and he just glanced around. It was slowly becoming twilight and they’d been standing on the street corner for at least an hour and a half. He wasn’t sure he wished to aggravate his "companion", as Watanuki had been in a horribly wretched mood all that day, but frankly, he was bored and talking, or at least riling up the spiritual boy, alleviated it slightly.

"Oi."

"What?"

The word was snapped quickly, raw edges and irritation making the simple reply jagged. His golden eyes slid to look at Watanuki from the corner of his eye briefly and didn’t miss that even in the warmish rain, the boy was shivering next to him. He looked, put simply, like a bad-tempered, drowned rat.

"Yuuko say anything more?"

A frayed nerve must have snapped apparently because Watanuki rounded on him so fast, he was like a mongoose seeing a snake. He was momentarily taken aback, though his face was such that only a faint widening of his eyes briefly showed it. "I already told you that she said wait--"

"I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about Kunogi-san."

He knew very well what they were standing on the street corner for. Apparently, they were errand boys with knives, so to speak, to pick up a package. The witch was convinced that the person they were going to see soon would be pursued by a demon or spirit or something. His purpose there then became obvious, what with his exorcism abilities and all.

"Oh." Watanuki seemed to briefly deflate and looked away, silent and brooding, which was so un-Watanuki like that he frowned slightly. That girl had shorter boy twined so tightly around her finger that it was literally scary. Every twitch of her smile sent Watanuki on some fool dance or in a puddle of depression.

So it didn't help when Kunogi Himawari began to act extremely strange. She was often nowhere to be seen at lunch and even missing randomly from classes, never at the same time as before. From what Doumeki understood, the girl was as straight A's in grades as Watanuki was, so the sudden change in behavior was somewhat alarming. Several attempts by Watanuki to talk about whatever it was that he was convinced was bothering her, was met by a blank stare and an unconcerned laugh.

And while Doumeki didn't exactly seek out Yuuko to ask her what she thought, that witch had that uncanny way of knowing. According to Watanuki, she’d gotten a rare serious face, the face she got when she talked about hitsuzen and fate and all that dangerous stuff, and said something cryptic about her being "in a dark place".

"...not a damn thing."

Doumeki blinked, drawn out of his thoughts by Watanuki's words. He didn't care to ask again what he had said, as between the last few words he caught and the boy's face, the answer was clear enough: No. He rubbed his chin in contemplation. He really didn’t know Kunogi well enough to even guess what might be wrong. He didn't really even think Watanuki did. For all of his attentions on the girl, his "rival" seemed to really only knew the surface of his female classmate. As far as the archer knew, they'd never had any truly deep and introspective conversations.

Kunogi Himawari really didn't interest him whatsoever. Whether she was there at lunch or not was of no great importance. Really, the only one that ever drew his attention as anything other than background noise at school was Watanuki. His childish energy, the way he could simply say something to set off the shorter of the two of them, the fact that he couldn’t seem to hide his emotions at all from Doumeki, intrigued him. Truly, ever since they met, he'd been interested in Watanuki. He'd never felt demons attach to anyone as strongly as he felt them from Watanuki and it was strange enough that he'd kept an eye from time to time on the boy during school, but it wasn't until Yuuko had shown up in the picture that it became anything active like it was now.

"Hn?"

"I said, you thick-headed JERK, why did you ask?"

He blinked as suddenly his vision was filled with pale blue and he was staring into the lively, crackling eyes of his supposed rival. Thankfully, the object of the reason they were out there had shown up into view and he didn’t have to answer.

"Look lively, our man is here."

Watanuki turned around just as Doumeki realized his mistake. It was no man at all, but a woman. A very young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, with light blond hair and a thin, lithe body was making her way toward them. Considering how uncommon true blond hair was in Japan, she had to have either died it to get it that color or she was half. Her outfit was as soaked as them, and unfortunately, hers happened to be one of those pure white, business attires with a tight skirt that fell to the knees and made it difficult to walk, especially in high heels. She was truly very pretty, he acknowledged, but the total fear on her face marred the image.

Doumeki knew that fear. It was the fear that he'd seen haunt Watanuki's eyes every time they went out on a "mission". And with a surreptitious glance at the boy beside him, he knew that whatever was following the woman, Watanuki could see it and it terrified the crap out of him. So much so that he was inching away, even slightly behind the archer.

"Where is it?" he hissed, raising his bow and drawing back the string, even though he held no arrow. The woman froze on the opposite sidewalk, as if what she had seen to be rescuers were no longer of the sort and clutched the peeling, wet brown paper bag in her arms as it were her only defense against the world and what was pursuing her. Even from the distance away they were at, he could see how she radiated fear and confusion.

"Behind her. Over her left shoulder."

Watanuki's voice was low, much like a whisper, but it was not drowned up by any loud thunder. In truth, with the exception of the pounding rain, the night was surprisingly very quiet. As it too held its breath with the woman as he aimed his sights along the empty space where his arrow would be held, aimed straight over the woman's shoulder. It was always far more difficult to shoot without an arrow, especially since he in truth was only getting used to doing this whole exorcism business, but when he loosed his power, he could tell by the faint sigh of his companion that he had hit his mark.

When he lowered the bow, the woman nervously ran across the street, and up close, she looked even worse. Her cheeks had run with mascara, from the rain or tears were hard to determine, and deep circles under her eyes were apparent even in the gloom of the rainy night.

"Are you from Yuuko-sama's?"

Her voice quavered as if she was freezing, or was finally pushed beyond her bearings until she was just running on pure adrenaline. It shook so badly that at first he had a hard time understanding her.

Watanuki nodded and Doumeki listened out of one ear to the conversation that truly didn’t interest him. Yes they were, yes he would take her to Yuuko right then and she could be safe, yes she could tell her story then.

"Oi."

"MY NAME IS NOT OI!!"

Doumeki, as always, ignored the protest. "If you don’t need me, I’m going home. I’m drenched."

"You can go!! It’s not like I want you to be here in the first place!" Watanuki temporarily seemed to have forgotten the woman as their age-old argument began again.

However, Doumeki could hardly forget about her as she suddenly clung to him with a ferocious strength and tenacity that would have put one of those fanclub girls to shame. He was so stunned all he did was stare down at her, arms pinned to his sides. He didn't doubt he could break her grip if he tried, but he was really too surprised. The action even shut up Watanuki’s tirade.

"Don’t go!" she pleaded. "I don’t know what you did to get rid of that...that...thing, but stay so that it doesn't come back! Please! Walk me to Yuuko-sama's, please!"

Neither of the boys failed to notice the "me" in that sentence and Doumeki could see the storm clouds gathering in those blue eyes. He sighed, feeling somewhat helpless in truth. He had no clue what Watanuki hated so much about him, but nothing he did seemed to be right to him.

"Fine, I'll walk you both back to her place." His mother was so going to be pissed at him for staying out so late in the pouring rain without telling her.

The trip back was accomplished in total silence, broken only by the woman's sniffling as she stood between them, alternately clinging to Doumeki's arm and clutching the package to her heart, as if it was all she had to live for. Which maybe was true? You never could tell with Yuuko's customers what they wanted or were giving.

Yuuko was standing just inside the gate to her shop and Doumeki couldn't be gladder to be rid of the mission. He leveled a gaze at Watanuki for a long enough to time while the two women talked that the boy turned to him like a striking snake. “What??” he hissed.

He shrugged and rattled off what he wanted for lunch the next day in the same manner as always. With an "I DON’T TAKE ORDERS" still ringing behind him at his retreating back from an enraged Watanuki, he headed off tiredly home and where his dry bed was waiting for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: No way do I own these two…I don’t even have enough to buy manga ;_;

He was deep in the bowels of hell and it was called Yuuko’s house.

Well, maybe Watanuki was exaggerating a little, but sometimes, that’s what it felt like. He got sick and tired of always cleaning and there always seemed to be a new film of dust over everything when he got back the next day. He was almost certain that Yuuko did it on purpose just to keep him busy. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about!

He shook his wet hair, spraying droplets around the small guest room Yuuko let him use to change. And somehow, as if she had known it all along would happen like this, she’d had a spare change of clothes waiting for him, in just his size, though they weren’t his clothes by a long shot. He didn’t own anything made of pure silk, for example and he would have known if he had.

“My, my, you look so handsome in that,” Yuuko teased as he exited the room and into the witch’s personal lounging area. The other woman was nowhere to be seen, but she was also, no doubt, drying off and changing. He remembered even as they entered inside the shop where she was totally safe, after all Watanuki didn’t know of anything that could get anyone inside of it, she hadn’t let go of the package and still probably had it with her now.

“I can just imagine how a certain someone would drool over you!” She let out something that was as close to a giggle as Yuuko could get and even then, it still sounded as if it had a mocking tilt to it.

Watanuki looked down at himself. He supposed they did go well with his slim figure and black had always gone well with his skin tone. The design of both the black pants and deep sapphire silk shirt was simplistic. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the shirt was made of silk, he would have sworn it could have come out of any regular, cheap men’s store. But it clearly screamed money. He didn’t recognize the exact fabric of the pants themselves, but they felt of the highest quality and the softest things he’d ever worn.

“Himawari-chan?” His eyes turned dreamy as he thought of the girl he admired at school. With that long, luscious black hair, those beautiful ribbons, and that melting smile…She was a goddess on earth. She was perfect in every way, even ways that didn’t matter to other people.

“Actually…” Watanuki deflated and looked back at her, “I was thinking of someone else. Someone who has a secret crush on you.”

The boy leveled her with a suspicious and skeptical gaze. “Someone has a crush on me?”

“Oh yes! Yes, they do.” And as if she could not contain herself any longer, laughter spilled from her mouth in waves, unstoppable, and had Watanuki not been so annoyed with his employer, he would have said it was pretty. Her voice was nice; he had to admit it was low and deep with mystery…if she wasn’t laughing at him.

“You are so dense, Watanuki-kun! Now get me some sake. I’m completely parched from standing in all that rain!”

Somewhere in his mind, a vein popped. “You are impossible to deal with, you know that?” he yelled. “All you do is drink! You are seriously going to regret it one day.”

“Oh…”

The faint little word intruded on his tirade and he looked to the door. There was the woman they had met on the street, her expression clearly stating she thought she was intruding on something. She looked better now that she was dry. Her hair was still very much wet and fell to her waist, but otherwise, she looked pretty decent in what Yuuko had provided her to wear. Speaking of that…

Filled with dread, he turned back to Yuuko, who couldn’t have looked smugger if she tried. Well, maybe she could. Yuuko was amazing when it came to looking self-satisfied.

“These clothes…they’re coming out of my pay, right?”

“Why, of course, because you’ll be keeping them.”

“I NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!”

She leaned forward and held his chin with her slim hands, murmuring right near his lips. “Keep them, Watanuki. I can guarantee you will use them at a later time. Now…sake.”

“GET YOUR OWN SAKE!”

He stormed right past the startled woman in the doorway and down to the kitchen, where he paced in irritation. Tonight had been the one of the worst nights of his life and that was saying something, considering the last week or two with Himawari-chan’s behavior. Not only did he have to stand in the pouring rain with that damn Doumeki for two hours, but that thing that had been following her…

A shudder went down his frame and to give himself something to do, his hands automatically went reaching for Yuuko’s sake. And even though he realized what he was doing, he didn’t stop. If Yuuko wanted sake, she would get sake. If she didn’t get it, she might even deduct it from his pay and he’d be working for her for the rest of his natural life!

When he returned with Yuuko’s drink, which she profusely thanked him and drank it almost all with one gulp, the package was nowhere to be seen and the woman that he and that damn Doumeki had escorted back to the shop was looking as if the end of the world had happened to her.

“Are you all right?”

She looked up and tears sparkled in her eyes, but the smile she gave him was forced. “I’ll be all right. I’m with Yuuko-sama. She’ll help me. She’ll stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Nothing.”

Both Watanuki and the woman turned to look at Yuuko’s serious and short word. She was staring at the sake in her cup, as if it held all the answers to life’s mysteries and all she had to do was make sense of it. Finally, she set it down, untouched, and turned deeply unfathomable eyes on her employee.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

And for some reason, Watanuki felt scared. He didn’t ask any more; he didn’t want to know any more. Something about the way Yuuko was staring at him, the set non-expression on her face, told him that it might be worth more than he could ever pay to find out more about what it was that was going on. He shivered.

“I’m going home now.” He stood and grabbed his things. Maru already had his wet uniform in a paper bag and Moro held out an umbrella. There were faint murmurs coming from the room he’d just left, but he didn’t look back and didn’t want to know. He merely waved goodnight at the girls and Mokona, who appeared out of nowhere to perch on Moro’s head, and went home.

~~~~~~

“So that was it, huh? You didn’t even find out what she was carrying.”

“SHUT UP, DOUMEKI!” He resolutely turned his back on the archer as they sat on the grass for lunch, his eyes always scanning the horizon for Himawari. “You weren’t there! You didn’t see Yuuko when she looked at me! She said it was nothing that I needed to know about and at least I know when to heed her warnings.”

“Oh really?”

Something in Doumeki’s tone made him turn his head to look over his shoulder suspiciously at the reclining boy on the grass. “Yes, really. Just what are you thinking in that stupid brain of yours?”

“You heed Yuuko’s warnings…just like that time when you went to see that woman in the park even though she was killing you. Like that time on the school rooftop when you pulled those “girl’s” hands apart when she told you not to. Like that time--”

“WOULD. YOU. JUST. SHUT. UP!”

Watanuki could only imagine all the ways of killing Doumeki, since none would come into reality, but they at least helped in some way to relieve his frustration with the archer. He was just so annoying that Watanuki was surprised someone hadn’t already killed him just to spare humanity of his incessant presence.

“How’s your eye?”

He blinked, surprise filtering away his anger and firmly turned away with a frown on his face. “Why do you keep asking that? I told you, idiot, that it’s already fine.” He touched the eye patch beneath his glasses briefly. He’d done it for Doumeki, because it would have been entirely his fault if the taller boy had lost his sight. And besides, it was almost a way to pay Doumeki back for all the times he’d saved him.

Watanuki did not deny he hated the archer, but he also could not deny that the other boy was always there when he needed him most, even when he didn’t want him to, like with that motherly, lonely woman. It was what he did in return for all that help that he gave his sight to the spider.

Doumeki grunted a little and anything he might have said was lost in a bright voice calling their names. “Watanuki-kun! Doumeki-kun!”

“HIMAWARI-CHAN!”

The girl in question panted a little and dropped down to sit next to Watanuki, who found bliss in just that simple action. “Sorry I didn’t join you earlier. Lunch is almost over now. Just had some things to do.”

It didn’t take more than a minute for Watanuki to notice that she looked pale and tired, despite her smile. There was nothing else about her that signaled something was wrong but those two things, and anyone else would have attributed it to working at school for grades and nightly study hours, but Watanuki knew better. If she hadn’t looked this pale and tired before the sudden change in her for the past few weeks, then it wasn’t catching up to her now.

“Oh, Watanuki-kun. I’m going to walk with you and Doumeki-kun today. I need to talk to Yuuko-san.”

All manner of alarm bells went off in Watanuki’s mind and fear clenched at his heart. Himawari? Talk to Yuuko? This could only mean something horrific. Maybe she had learned of another incident that had to be taken care of. Maybe…but if that were the case, she would have asked Watanuki to bring Yuuko to her, right? Walking home with them…that meant she’d have to enter Yuuko’s shop!

“What’s wrong, Himawari-chan?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just need to talk to Yuuko-san for a few minutes. That’s all.”

“But…”

Watanuki trailed off and he could feel Doumeki’s eyes on his back. He glared at the archer, but before he could say anything to that stoic face, the bell rang ending lunch and the bright and cheerful Himawari was already running for the school building.

 


	3. A Dangerous Business

Every step that Watanuki took felt like needles going up through his feet. He dreaded the end of the school day. He feared not what Himawari wanted from Yuuko, but what Yuuko would ask in return. The anxiety that twisted at his heart was so strong that even Himawari’s constant and bubbly chatter couldn’t penetrate it. And except for her, both Doumeki and himself were silent.

When they reached the gate to Yuuko’s shop, which Doumeki kept insisting to Watanuki was a vacant lot to him, the archer merely paused and then continued walking without a word. In fact, he didn’t even look at Watanuki or Himawari.

“Is something wrong with Doumeki-kun? Do you think he’s upset?”

Watanuki could only shrug at Himawari’s question, and tell himself that he did _not_ feel concerned for Doumeki. “He’s always says something extremely annoying when he leaves,” he added, since Himawari was staring at him and waiting for him to continue. “Even if it’s just something about what he wants me to make for lunch tomorrow. EVEN THOUGH I DON’T TAKE ORDERS!”

The shout at the empty space where Doumeki had walked off didn’t respond and Watanuki didn’t think he’d heard him. _Gah, what am I thinking about??? As if I don’t have enough to worry about! And I’m **worried** about Doumeki!_

Himawari stared around in wonder at the rather splendid abode of Yuuko before the woman herself came into view. Her hair was wet, so it was obvious she had just gotten out of the bath and the yukata she wore was fashionably loose. Apparently Himawari loved it since she asked where to get one, but Watanuki couldn’t feel happy. Instead, even more so than before, he felt terrified.

“Watanuki, bring us some tea, why don’t you?” Yuuko murmured and lead his crush to the “business” area of the store.

He wanted to argue, even raised his hand and opened his mouth to as they retreated, but what could he say to Himawari that would make her leave? If she could even enter, as Yuuko constantly said, it meant that she had a reason to be there. That it was _fated_ to happen.

Watanuki didn’t like fate anymore.

In truth, he never had, but now he had a true reason hate it. Only something horrible could happen to Himawari. Every customer that Yuuko had ever had always came to some bad end or had something horrible happen to them, and each and every one of them flew through his mind. None of that could happen to his Himawari.

His hands had busied themselves getting the tea and it was already on the tray before he was consciously aware of it. Shaking his head at how “trained” he had gotten, his bare feet took him to the door where Yuuko and Himawari were talking. And just as he reached out to pull it open, something paused him.

Himawari wouldn’t tell him what the problem was. Even talking with Yuuko there, would she want Watanuki to hear it? He wanted to know so that he could help her, even if she didn’t ask for it. It was all rationalizations, he knew, because he didn’t know why he didn’t open the door. He just paused.

“So why is it you have come here?”

“I…I have a wish.” Himawari’s voice was hesitant, not something that Watanuki had ever heard before. She was always so confident and light. Now she sounded soft and even desperate. As if she had exhausted all other possibilities and came up with nothing.

“What is it?”

“I’m pregnant and I don’t want to be.”

For a moment, Watanuki’s wasn’t sure that he had heard her right. _His_ Himawari was _pregnant_? How could that be? She was so innocent…and she didn’t even have a boyfriend! No, this couldn’t be! Some spirit must be making her act this way! But what spirit could penetrate Yuuko’s shop? The barrier around it, when he touched it, had been strong enough to propel all the demons hounding him away when he first found his way there.

“Why not just get an abortion?” The witch’s voice was calm, too calm, especially in comparison to the frantic, hummingbird rate that his heart was going.

“And have my parents find out? They would kill me!”

“Fine. And you don’t want the baby.” There was a pause where Watanuki could see from the shadows on the paper door of Himawari nodding.

“What happened?”

“It was a mistake, I know that now. I got…involved with someone.”

Those words slashed and murdered him where he stood. If his hands hadn’t been gripping the tray so tightly that his knuckles hurt, he would have dropped it in shock. His heart shattered to pieces on the ground. Himawari…what had happened to her? Where was the girl he had known, he had admired and nursed his secret crush to for almost a year, gone?

“He was…dangerous. He had a girlfriend, so we started it off quietly two months ago. I kept asking him when he would break up with her and we could make it official, but he always put it off. Then I found out I was pregnant a few weeks ago.” He couldn’t see the tears, but her voice became broken up as she wept. “I started skipping classes so I could find him. Went to all our old meeting places. I finally found him today and told him I was pregnant. I expected him to break it off then, but he told me…” A choked off sob, “that he wouldn’t and that we were over. I was nothing to him…”

Watanuki could barely see with the tears that pooled in his eye, so Yuuko’s shadow as she lifted up her arm casually to smoke was blurry and watery. How could his world come shattering down?

“Ah. The good girl and the bad boy thing, huh?” She paused and as if she knew he was there, asked quietly, “What about Watanuki? You do know he has a crush on you right?”

Himawari’s head lifted, even as he clutched the tray to his chest so hard it hurt. “Watanuki-kun?”

“Didn’t you ever notice?”

“No…I thought it was just friendship. And, well, he’s nice and sweet and all…”

“But he’s not your type. You like the dangerous kind, apparently. Fine, I shall grant your wish. But there is always a price and you must pay it.”

Watanuki’s feet, which had been glued to the floor the whole time, came unstuck and all he wanted to do was run. He crept back to the kitchen, forcing his legs to move slowly, and set it down. Every action was too slow, too controlled. He almost began to act like Doumeki…and that was a thought that made him shatter. He didn’t care if Yuuko docked his pay or that he’d be working for her his whole life. He just couldn’t stay there a moment longer. He pulled on his shoes and ran out the door as if all the demons of hell were on his heels.

He didn’t see Yuuko’s eyes trail to the door as he turned away from it. Himawari never even knew he was there.

~~~~~~

It didn’t matter where his legs were taking him. It didn’t matter that he was so blinded by tears that he couldn’t see. His Himawari…she had never even considered him. He wasn’t her type. He was _nice_. He was _sweet_.

When his legs could take him no longer, he slumped against a nearby wall. Thankfully, the street was deserted and no one would see him. The muscles in his thighs and calves rippled with fatigue and he couldn’t tell if his gasping was because he lacked air from running or from sobbing.

Had he ever truly _known_ Himawari then? Two months and he hadn’t even noticed. All those times he asked for her to walk home with him and all her excuses…were they _all_ a lie? Had any of it ever been truth? How could Himawari be so foolish as to get herself _pregnant_?

“Oi.”

“Oh god no.”

Watanuki had somehow managed to run all the way to Doumeki’s shrine. He hadn’t even been paying attention. Had his subconscious pulled him here? For what purpose? So he could be even more humiliated?

“What are—”

He didn’t even open his eyes until Doumeki took his chin and made him look at him. The face that looked back at him was as devoid of expression as always and he wanted to hit him. Wanted to hit _something_ hard to take away his feelings of betrayal. Himawari and him had never had anything, true, but he had put his faith in her, his caring. He had thought that if in this screwed up world of spirits and stupid Doumeki and dangerous Yuuko, he could count on one thing and that was Himawari.

Now it was all gone.

“Come on in.”

“No.”

Doumeki, while he didn’t actually do it, gave off the distinct impression that he rolled his eyes. His hand gripped like a vise on Watanuki’s elbow and dragged him into the temple grounds despite the shorter one’s admittedly less than stellar objections. He had lost the heart for it all.

They sat on the steps leading up the house set nearby the shrine and said nothing for an hour. Perhaps there was something good about Doumeki because he asked no questions. He didn’t say anything derisive as Watanuki cried. And though the shorter boy caught a few abortive gestures, he didn’t touch him. Just let him be with a silent presence of protection nearby.

“What happened?”

Watanuki had no more tears, at least not at the moment. His throat was so raw it was painful from his sobs and he couldn’t even see out of his glasses lenses anymore. His cheeks and nose were puffy and he knew he looked absolutely dreadful.

“Himawari-chan…”

“What about her?” Doumeki reached over and much to Watanuki’s surprise, ever so gently lifted off his glasses to clean them with his shrine robe, as if he knew exactly how difficult it was to see around the spots on them. So expertly as if he wore glasses himself for so many years. And for the first time in his life, he found he was truly grateful for Doumeki. He was so worn out, he didn’t even have the energy to get angry or irritated at him.

To tell the truth, he wasn’t sure it was his story to tell. He’d overheard Himawari talk with Yuuko; she hadn’t told him herself. She couldn’t even tell her parents about it. And he didn’t even want to know what the price would be for what Himawari had asked for.

“I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He blinked as suddenly Doumeki was crouching in front of him, tilting his head up straight so he could gently set his glasses back on, as if he was _used_ to doing it. And then he realized, he really didn’t know _anything_ about Doumeki at all. He had never even tried to learn.

“How do you know to do all that?”

Doumeki paused, letting his hands rest on his knees as he studied Watanuki’s tear streaked face. “My grandfather wore glasses when he got older and during the last few months before he died, I often cleaned and put them back on when he couldn’t.”

A faint breeze, there and then gone, fluttered around them and brought stray leaves that he knew Doumeki would have to sweep up later. Silence permeated the area as his rival crouched as still as stone in front of him and just waited. His ankles must be aching, he thought.

So Watanuki told him.

 


	4. A Dangerous Business

Doumeki could do nothing as Watanuki cried. So many times, the urges to just reach out and hold him close, to kiss his tears away and soothe him, came and went. A few times he almost heeded them, but at the last second, he would pull back. He knew that Watanuki would never accept any kind of physical comfort from him. It would really only make the distraught figure draw back from him and truly realize just who he was with for comfort. That was the last thing he wanted right then, when he knew just how much the boy needed it.

It was with somewhat of a relief that he noticed Watanuki’s glasses. Reaching over to gently take them from his face was the only close contact he knew he’d ever be allowed and at least, he could take that much. And as he told his “friend”, he had done it quite a bit for his grandfather. Eyes got old like the rest of the body, even for exorcists.

His ankles did indeed begin to ache as he waited for what seemed an eternity and he merely concentrated on remembering just how soft his face was, the skin so perfect without blemishes of any kind…except for the eye patch. It was like a constant reminder of what Watanuki had done for him when he hadn’t asked him to. Yuuko had told him that day in the park why he’d done it, but that didn’t mean Doumeki had to like it.

He’d never met Watanuki’s eyes for as long as he did now. The silence wasn’t overbearing or awkward and he was willing to let it be. It almost felt that Watanuki was weighing him, judging him. If it would help at all so that he would finally begin to accept the archer and not hate him, he’d stay crouched like this for eternity. Or at least, if it would help Watanuki in whatever grief had struck him so profoundly he would do it.

“Himawari-chan…she’s…” Watanuki ducked his head in his arms, as if the eye contact they’d had had become too much. His voice was muffled, but Doumeki could still understand what he said. “She’s…pregnant.”

For a moment, Doumeki felt a strange sense of surprised vertigo. It was not that he had truly cared about Kunogi, not like Watanuki, but it was something of a shock. Like being thrown with ice cold water all over you when you were out in the sun in 120 degree weather. Kunogi, _pregnant_? She was a straight A student; on the student council. It was not at all what he would have expected of her.

But it was true, considering Watanuki’s complete emotional train-wreck condition. Doumeki reached out to touch the boy’s head as he began to sob out the story again, obviously trying hard not to cry from the faint hitches, but at the last second, he pulled away again. Watanuki had just finally opened up to him. Treated him as something other than a hated rival. Did he dare do anything to upset this?

Slowly, Doumeki shifted to sit beside Watanuki again, but a little closer this time. Just in case the boy might need more comfort than the archer dared to give him on his own right then. He listened quietly and couldn’t help but wonder just what price Kunogi would have to pay for her wish. Despite scientifically that it probably wasn’t even begun to grow into a baby yet, was probably still cells, was it still not a life form? And as Watanuki had told him, Yuuko was convinced of the weight of murder. That woman with the picture…she paid her price with her whole life. Could this constitute killing? Or would it be muted since it was still cells at this stage?

“I know!”

“Hn?” Doumeki blinked as suddenly Watanuki grew exited, almost exuberant, next to him. Hope filled his face and life sparked in his eye again. Part of him was terrified at what he would say and another was joyous that Watanuki, his secret crush Kimihiro, was back to normal.

“I can try to be what Kunogi likes! I’ll do whatever it takes!”

“Impossible.”

The flat statement caught Watanuki’s attention and he whirled angrily, with an expression Doumeki had long since memorized. That was almost all he ever saw on his face whenever Watanuki saw him and he’d gotten used to it. Sometimes in the darkest of hours, with the silence in his bedroom, he wondered if that was all he would ever see on Watanuki’s face when he looked at him. “How do you know?! You don’t know anything!! I can be--”

“I said it’s impossible.” He held up a forestalling hand as Watanuki attempted to interrupt _his_ interruption. “You can’t be “bad” like that. It’s proven every day. The way you act around Kunogi-san just proves it. You don’t understand what kind of “bad” Yuuko said. Can you be the kind of bad that doesn’t give a damn about anyone? That will break laws just because you feel like it? That will use people, people like Kunogi, because of what they can get out of them?” He stood up and paced a little, stopping in front of Watanuki and looking down on him. His expression was as stoic as ever, almost too severe, but he couldn’t change that. It was just the way he was. The boy merely watched him with a blank face.

Almost upset at the thought of Watanuki trying to be come a “bad” boy, he looked away and his voice became a tad gruffer. “Remember that woman that you went to see? That you knew she was killing you, but you couldn’t let her be because she was lonely? That was an instinctual reaction. People like Kunogi described she was secretly dating _aren’t like that_. They wouldn’t have been talking to her in the first place.” He paused and took a deep breath. “No, you can’t be what she likes. You don’t have it in you.”

“I…just…”

“I know.”

He let the silence fall again, amber eyes turning to look down on Watanuki again as he began to cry softly once more. This was a slow rainfall this time, as he gave up the faint hope he’d had before. It was difficult when something you’d held onto for so long was so suddenly yanked from your grasp. It hurt, hurt like hell. When his grandfather had died, Doumeki had felt that way. His grandfather had been there for him more than his parents had been. His father had always been wary of his grandfather’s powers and his mother tried to ignore it.

Another faint sob drew him from his ruminations and he blinked sadly. His heartstrings began to break one by one at the desolate image of Watanuki in front of him. It was even worse than that time he was on his knees in front of him when Doumeki had done what was needed and “killed” that spirit. It was so much worse this time.

“Oi,” he said softly, pulling the boy up to his feet gently. “Keep that up and I’ll have to clean your glasses again.” It wasn’t overly necessary, but he took them again, just for the chance to brush against that soft, pale skin. He’d felt the touch of Watanuki’s eyelash over his finger ever so briefly as he blinked, and it shivered through him. When his glasses were set on his nose again, Watanuki just stared at him. It was blank, expressionless, as if waiting for something.

Awkwardly, Doumeki pulled out a worn handkerchief from his pocket and shoved into Watanuki’s listless hand. “Here. Do you want some tea or anything?”

Blink. And with ever so much joy that filled him, life sparked in Watanuki’s eyes. As if something in him had broken through the despair that he’d felt and fell back onto what must be by now an instinctual reaction to Doumeki’s presence. “NO, I DON’T WANT YOUR TEA! AND I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY!” Angrily, the boy began to stomp out of the shrine.

Doumeki folded his hands in his sleeves as he watched him go. He didn’t know if Watanuki would be all right or not. He’d been nursing his crush for Kunogi for a year. Could it be that easy? He sincerely doubted it. It was still going to eat at Watanuki for a long time. Any plans that he may have made to tell the boy about his own feelings were put on hold. First, Watanuki had to be back to normal fully. A rebound relationship was good for no one.

But he had taken the handkerchief with him.

~~~~~~~

“Here.”

Doumeki blinked, chopsticks halfway to his open mouth. His eyes shifted from Watanuki’s face to his outstretched hand, where his handkerchief was being held. Instead of taking it, he finished the bite he was going to eat slowly, watching the boy get more irritated with every chew he made. And it made him want to laugh. He so did enjoy riling up Watanuki.

“You can keep it,” he replied after he swallowed.

“I DON’T WANT YOUR DAMN HANDKERCHIEF!”

Doumeki shrugged, but made no move to take it back. Keenly, he watched Watanuki from the corner of his eye, wanting to see what he would do. The hand shook and he could see the thunderclouds around him, but in his anger, he only stuffed it in his book bag. “WHATEVER! I’ll just go home and _burn it_!”

“If you want.”

“Watanuki-kun! Doumeki-kun!”

Whatever Watanuki was about to say got strangled in his throat when that figure began to jog toward them in its usual cheerful gait and Doumeki’s eyes immediately shifted to watch him closely. The boy had been avoiding Kunogi all morning, though he doubted she noticed. She seemed a tad…preoccupied herself about something.

“Yo.”

“Good afternoon, Himawari-chan!!”

For someone who made such astute observations of their “counterparts”, it was very easy for Doumeki to see that while Watanuki made quite an attempt at being normal, as if he had not listened about Kunogi, it failed miserably. Oh, to an outsider and Kunogi, it was the same, but not to his eyes. It lacked a certain something. Perhaps it was enthusiasm or…hope, like he did it only for the form of the thing. Just for the normalcy the act presented.

And now that he really looked at the girl, he noticed that there was tightness around her jaw and eyes. Maybe the price for what she asked for was too high. He had no doubt she’d paid it; after all, getting pregnant at her age, without being married even in contemporary Japan, would kill any future she might have. No, but the price can always be too steep.

Conversation appeared normal during lunch, but he watched Watanuki closely. Any time a subject seemed to become too painful, Doumeki would change it. He got no thanks for it, but he hadn’t expected any. He only got the usual snappish remarks or yells, but he could see that it was only an act. Watanuki had no heart in it. Seeing Kunogi had sapped him of any enthusiasm.

~~~~~~

“Is something wrong with Watanuki-kun?”

Doumeki glanced down at Kunogi as they watched Watanuki walk away back to classes. “Looks like an idiot as usual,” he lied, shoving his hands in his pockets casually and sauntered off to his own class. He had no intention of betraying the confidence that Watanuki had given him the day before. Maybe Watanuki wouldn’t expect it of him; he didn’t seem at all interested in knowing him. But Doumeki knew and he would never say anything. Things would happen as they happened and he would take any bumps one at a time. It was the only way to save his sanity.


	5. A Dangerous Business

Watanuki met her on the way into the shop for his daily ritual of torture, ie cleaning the dust magnet of a building. She looked a lot better now than she did when she had come to the shop in the first place, though her expression still seemed haunted. When she saw him, she smiled. Through sheer polite will, he managed to smile in return, even if he didn’t feel like it.

“Takanagi-san, are you leaving now?”

She looked down at the ground for a long time. “Yes,” she answered finally. “It’s time that I leave. I have to pay my respects to my Sensei, which I couldn’t do because of that package and what was following me.”

“Sensei?”

With a sad sigh, she finally looked back up at him. “He was a professor that had an interest in the supernatural. When I became his assistant, I didn’t believe in it at all, but I do now. I couldn’t see what was following me, but I could _feel_ it.” She shivered. “Whatever it was that Sensei found, he knew how dangerous it was after cooping himself up with his research for a week. Then he suddenly told me to go to that area of the street and wait for representatives from a colleague of his that he’d called. The instant he handed me the package, his whole body tightened and suddenly the whole office was drenched in his blood.”

Her gaze was far away and he knew that she wasn’t even seeing him, but back at the college office she’d been in. “His screams still fill my ears. I didn’t see what hurt him, but I could feel its hate…It wanted what Sensei found and all I could do was run.”

“Are you going to be all right, though?” he interrupted when it appeared as if she was lost in her memories. “I mean, they might think that you killed the professor.”

“Even if they do, I’ll get through it somehow.” Her carefully controlled expression finally cracked and she pushed past him, running toward the gates. And in that instant, he managed to catch her whispered voice, “I wish I’d never gotten involved!”

It was not unreasonable that she wanted nothing more to do with the supernatural after what had happened, but he knew more than anyone that not many had a choice in the matter. His introspection didn’t last long before the girls rushed out of the shop and danced around him, welcoming him back with an enthusiasm that he didn’t think he’d ever feel again.

“Watanuki, you’re so listless today,” Yuuko commented as she watched him clean.

“I’m the same as usual,” he shot back, but it lacked its usual life.

“I realize you liked Himawari-chan a lot, but you’re just going to have to get over it.”

He whirled on her, anger filling his eyes like flashes of lightning. “You knew that I was there! You know how much I liked her! You could at least show some _sympathy_! Why do you have to be so cruel!”

Her eyes were dispassionate as she watched him try not to cry and shrugged. “I told you several, several times that she was _not_ someone for you, but you never listened. Maybe if you had, you wouldn’t be hurting this much.”

That was the last straw. He yanked off the cloth from his head and tossed the apron on the floor, so angry that he didn’t care. Rather, he wasn’t sure if he was angry or upset. He blinked rapidly to forestall tears as he spat out, “That’s it! I’m _leaving_! Dock my pay if you want, I don’t give a damn!”

Mokona appeared out of nowhere once Watanuki had slammed the front door and his lips twisted down in a frown. “That was mean, Yuuko.”

She sighed sadly. Maybe she had been a little too mean. “Possibly I went too far.”

“He’s going to go, right?”

“To Doumeki’s? Yes.”

“Why’d you be so mean?”

“Because if I did, he’d automatically go to Doumeki’s and Doumeki is the only one that can really comfort him. After all, Doumeki and Himawari are the only friends he has.”

Mokona huffed a little, but she could feel his worry all the same. “Guess we’ll have to have sake for dinner.”

\--------------------

 _What am I doing?_ he thought to himself as his feet had automatically taken him straight to Doumeki’s shrine. Sure, Doumeki had been nice the last time, but still…! It was just like Doumeki to use this as ammo next time they were arguing and it was just too painful for that.

“If you’re just going to stand there, you can clean.”

Watanuki groaned at that annoying but expressionless voice. It would be just his luck that Doumeki knew he was there just as he was about to turn around and go back to his apartment. “Who says I want to clean, you jerk!”

Doumeki merely turned away back to sweeping, but automatically stomped up to him to continue ranting before he realized what he was doing. He was…actually feeling better. Was the routine of yelling at Doumeki actually making him feel better? There were no words of comfort or hugging, neither of which he’d ever condone naturally, but the annoying presence of the archer helped him get back to some area of himself that felt less depressed.

“Oi, here.”

A dustpan and bag was shoved in his hands and he had a sudden flash of memory when he’d been cleaning up before the spider had sealed Doumeki’s eye up and then he’d wished for the grudge to turn upon him instead. He glanced at Doumeki out of the corner of his remaining eye and just bent down to work without another word. He figured that the archer was still angry at him, but Watanuki couldn’t bring himself to tell him why he’d done it.

The act of cleaning up the fallen leaves in a peaceful shrine actually also helped make him feel better, as he didn’t have much time to think about what bothered him between the physical exertion and yelling at the boy who lived there. It was almost…enjoyable in a way. He wasn’t sure how to put it so that it would make sense, but it just…was.

After that, Watanuki had told Yuuko that he wouldn’t be coming for a week or two, since he was still furious at her for her uncaring remarks. Every time he looked at her, he could feel the betrayed hurt at her words as fresh as it had been when it happened and he thought for his own safety that he should back off from her before he did something that he’d regret later. She seemed to agree.

During that time off, despite the excuses he gave to his hated rival, he’d stop by after school to help clean the yard. It wasn’t because he liked Doumeki, of course not! That was absurd. He came only because he felt better after doing that kind of work. As usual, the archer didn’t seem to care that all he did was yell at him, but it made Watanuki feel better anyway.

\--------------------

Ever since he had overheard the conversation in the shop, Watanuki had been extremely careful around Himawari. He tended to avoid her during school, especially when it looked like they might be alone. He also only came to lunch if Doumeki was there as a buffer, since the stupid idiot seemed to have an odd ability of making comments that changed the subject when Watanuki felt awkward. He doubted that Doumeki had enough sense or cared enough to do it _because_ he didn’t like the current topic of conversation.

So when he was waiting for Doumeki and Himawari for lunch, when the girl arrived first and his heart didn’t constrict, he was stunned. The past two weeks, it appeared as if Himawari was getting better. The tightness around her eyes and mouth had faded and she looked as she normally should.

“Watanuki-kun! Wow, it’s the first time in a while that we’ve been alone. You must have been really busy.”

He smiled and was shocked that it didn’t feel forced. “Sort of. I took a week or two off from Yuuko-san’s shop.”

“Really?” She blinked in surprise. “Then where do you rush to after school? I always see you leaving really quickly once the bell goes off.”

“Err…” He ruffled his hair to give himself time to think of a way to say it, but his reply was postponed by the archer himself and for once, he was grateful to hitsuzen.

“Oh, Doumeki-kun, hello. Watanuki-kun was about to tell me where he’s been going after school since he said he’s taking a leave from Yuuko-san’s shop.”

“He’s been coming to the shrine.”

“Oh really? Wow, you two must be really, really close.”

The flat statement made before he could stop him, made Watanuki’s jaw hit the ground and he glared at Doumeki. “Himawari-chan, that’s honestly not the case…!” He leaned in on the pretext of giving Doumeki his lunch and hissed in his ear angrily, “ _Jerk!_ Why’d you have to say it like that?! I only come because yelling at you makes me feel better!”

“If it makes you feel better, then yell at me all you want.”

Watanuki was sure that he was the only one who heard Doumeki’s quiet remark, but it almost caused him to drop his lunch. He looked closely at the archer’s face, but when there was no derision in those golden eyes and the voice even seemed _sincere_ , he flushed. “Sh-shut up!” he stuttered back and turned back to his own bento, proceeding to completely ignore the other boy’s existence.

What the _hell_ was that supposed to mean?


	6. A Dangerous Business

By the time his two weeks were up and he had to back to work, Watanuki couldn’t tell if he was glad or not. Part of him was still angry with her, but after some reflection, Yuuko’s words didn’t bother him quite as much now. It had taken a bit, but it seemed as if he was making _some_ process in his feelings.

When he spoke to Yuuko after that long time, not a lot was said. There was a bit of cautious tension in the air between them. He didn’t think Yuuko had changed or regretted what she said, but she at least had the sense to know not to push things at this stage. She didn’t tease him quite as much as he might have expected and kept her antics to a minimum.

However, going back to work at Yuuko’s meant that he didn’t have the time to drop by the shrine for his joyful chance to yell at Doumeki with impunity. Especially since Doumeki never said anything back, it never mattered what he said. He realized that he got rid of a lot of frustrations when doing so and it made him almost cheerful enough to skip down the streets when he was done, like a burden was taken from him.

Watanuki’s behavior wasn’t going unnoticed either. Oftentimes, Himawari and even Yuuko commented that he seemed happier. Unfortunately, since he couldn’t go the shrine with his job at Yuuko’s, that wouldn’t likely stay.

It was several days later when Doumeki didn’t show up at his classroom or the usual lunch spot for his bento that Watanuki sought him out. It was strange, as the archer never failed to appear the moment lunch was announced. It was somewhat satisfying that Doumeki loved his food so much.

Careful questioning found his answer: the boy was at the archery club. He was already there before he remembered that Himawari had been going to join them that day. He hesitated, wondering if he should go back to tell her or something, and that hesitation almost cost him.

“Hey you! Look out!”

It almost felt like time slowed down as he turned his head to see the arrow flying toward him. He hadn’t seen it because it was on the side of his eye patch and the members were so good that there was barely a whizzing as the arrow penetrated the wind and air around it as it sped toward the target. Too late did Watanuki realize that his path to the club area had led him straight through the target thoroughfare.

Something grabbed the nape of his collar and jerked him so that instead of pain, he heard the satisfying clunk of the arrow hitting one of the targets. Blinking in detached surprise, he looked over his shoulder and golden eyes met his in a stab of irritation. Why was Doumeki in a bad mood?

“Idiot, watch where you’re going.”

In a conditioned response, his body stiffened and he retorted angrily, “I _was_! I just didn’t see it because of my eye.”

Too late did he realize what he’d said and he bit his tongue in consternation when Doumeki paused his walking. The anger that he’d seen on the boy’s face when he’d first found out what he’d done was still there, hidden in the golden color that he could see no matter how the archer tried to hide it. He knew that Doumeki didn’t like the fact that he’d done it, but no matter how he tried to put it, Watanuki couldn’t really find a way to explain why he’d done it. They were just _feelings_ that made him do it, but he was at an impasse as to how to explain in words those feelings of guilt, responsibility, and a few more unnamed ones.

“Don’t come here anymore.”

“What the hell?” he burst out suddenly, his strong will bounding up to combat with that of Doumeki’s, who didn’t seem even close to backing down.

“Don’t. Come. Here. Again.”

“I’ll come here if I damn well please!”

Doumeki’s eyebrows twitched down and his face was distinctly displeased. “Come here!” Roughly, the archer grabbed his arm and dragged him way from the club area to a place that was devoid of others.

“What the hell! Let me go, let me go damnit!” Watanuki struggled with the strong grip on his elbow, but Doumeki let him so abruptly that he stumbled. He kept the lunch that he had carried, forgetting his original purpose in the first place, clutched to his chest and his remaining blue eye was blazing with fury. “What makes you think you can manhandle me, you overbearing asshole?!”

“Don’t come here again.”

“And I’m asking why the hell I should do a damn thing you say!”

Doumeki sighed and looked, instead of angry, a little tired. “Because I can’t take it.”

Watanuki was finding it hard to follow this conversation as Doumeki was making even less sense than usual. “You are making _no_ sense! I can take care of myself!”

“But I can’t take care of you if you do what you did today and I’m not near enough to help you when you can’t _see_ what’s coming at you!”

Yup, that anger was back in the archer and it made it easier to yell at him. Lately, whenever Doumeki seemed tired, he found that his urge to yell at him was hard to come. “That’s my business!”

“It’s a dangerous business, Watanuki.”

“Welcome to my life—wait, did you just say my name? You did! See, you _do_ know it, so stop calling me ‘oi’!”

“That’s not what we’re talking about here and you know it. Don’t come here again.”

“Fine, you can be sure as hell I won’t! I won’t come near you anymore, that’s even better, huh?!” He shoved the lunch against Doumeki’s chest, forcing the boy to take it lest it fall, and stalked away.

He missed the complicated expression on his friend’s face as he did so.

**

“My aren’t we in a bad mood today. Something to do with Doumeki? You haven’t been in this foul mood for awhile,” Yuuko commented from her lounging as she watched him work.

Apparently, this was what Watanuki had been waiting for, the best chance to rant, and turned around almost instantly. He somehow took a huge breath and ranted out the entire situation in one sitting until he was left gasping, face red with anger.

Yuuko had the temerity to chuckle. “He’s worried about you Watanuki.”

“I _told_ him that it was my business!”

“But it’s not.”

“Huh?”

The witch sat up and propped her chin on her hand, her kimono shifting as she did so. “Once you get involved with someone, naturally part of that business becomes someone else’s to some extent. However, at least half of this business _is_ Doumeki’s, since you sacrificed your eye for his. In essence, this used to be _Doumeki’s_ business until you took half of that business to yourself. So, he has every right to be involved.”

Watanuki hadn’t thought of it like that, possibly because he’d always thought that everything supernatural was his business since it had been with him long before it had involved Doumeki. “…Oh. Well…”

“You should apologize to Doumeki.”

“Like hell!” he responded automatically and turned to go back to work. He didn’t want to think right then, but his mind refused to listen. He was putting together the pieces and the looks and the actions of Doumeki. He wasn’t stupid, but he also was not liking the conclusions.

He probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t spent the last two weeks going to the shrine every day after school. Even Watanuki, as dense as he was sometimes, wasn’t stupid. It was just that he was afraid of asking Doumeki straight out if this was the case, since he knew he couldn’t return those feelings. Doumeki was a guy and so was he. Not to mention, while he might not necessarily _hate_ him anymore, her certainly didn’t like him!

However, Watanuki was also not blessed with a great deal of tact. Instead, he held a great amount of impatience and once he found a question, he had the impulse to ask it right away.

So the next time he visited the temple, on an errand from Yuuko no less, he was determined to ask.


	7. A Dangerous Business

Unfortunately for Watanuki, his plan was thrown in the gutter when he didn’t have time to go visit Doumeki’s temple. The boy rarely came to lunch anymore, due to a need to practice for the upcoming competition. Despite Himawari’s insistence, Watanuki had a stubborn streak as long as a mile and he refused to go there to give the stupid archer his lunch.

Yup, it was because he was angry and stubborn, not because Doumeki had told him not to come.

Thanks to going back to work for Yuuko, his routine was coming back of going to school, then to her shop, then home. Routines were actually comforting in a way and he fell back against them happily. He had forgotten about his plan to ask Doumeki about his stupid actions, especially since he hadn’t seen him for a week thanks to their schedules not meshing.

Watanuki stretched his arms as he walked down the street, calculating in his head the best time allotment for all the homework that night. It was an especially quiet week and he was enjoying it. No seeing spirits, no special jobs, nothing out of the ordinary. Now, if his whole life could be like this, he’d be perfectly happy.

Dealing with Yuuko, though, should have told him that things were never going to last and that any quietness was only the calm before the storm. Almost before he’d stepped inside, even before he got his shoes off, she had accosted him.

“Watanuki, don’t change, you’ll be going right back out.”

“Eh?”

She waved at the girls and they padded away, only to return with what looked like a small jewelry box. He took it curiously, but he hadn’t even the chance to open his mouth to ask what the whole thing was about when Yuuko told him.

“I need you to go somewhere and give this to someone. Go by the park then veer left. Keep going until you take the third available right. When you reach the end of the street, there should be two rundown houses. Go into the left one and up the stairs to a child’s bedroom. Wait and then give what appears the music box.”

This sounded far too simple and he watched her suspiciously, but her halfway serious expression didn’t change as she stared right back. The awkward atmosphere was back, as their last true argument was reminded in both their minds. He doubted Yuuko cared, but he could still remember his harsh words and hers when they’d fought about Himawari.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

He was tucking the box in his school bag and turning at the same time when she spoke again.

“You’ll want to call Doumeki.”

Watanuki didn’t even look back or respond as he was out the door and heading down to the park. He could have just stopped at his apartment to give Doumeki a call, as he didn’t own a cellphone, but Doumeki wouldn’t have been at the shrine. He was probably still practicing at school. And he told himself the reason he didn’t go back was because he didn’t want to see the jerk, not because he didn’t want to interrupt his practicing for the competition.

“Okay, go left now,” he muttered under his breath. He had to keep reminding himself of the directions and keep count how many rights he passed otherwise he’d get lost. He’d never been in this kind of area before, as he’d never had a reason to go here. He was a bit jumpier than usual, especially since the whole area had a more dilapidated feel to it and he could see on the edges of his vision spirits just as depressed as the atmosphere that didn’t even seem to want to work up the energy to chase him.

What was it about this place?

The farther he ventured toward the house he was supposed to go, the longer the path seemed to be and the darker the sky became. Maybe it was his imagination and clouds were just blocking the sun, as there was no way in the past twenty minutes it could be night.

There was the sound of crackling thunder and he winced when a freezing cold rain suddenly began to fall. He shivered. The weather report hadn’t mentioned anything about rain that day, or he would have brought an umbrella.

When he reached his destination, he paused. No wonder Yuuko had been specific about which house to go into, as the two side by side were identical, right up to the cobwebs. It left him with a bad feeling and the atmosphere in the house itself was heavy and oppressive.

Watanuki’s steps weren’t confident as he made his way up the stairs, rainwater from his wet clothes soaking the weak and squeaky floorboards. He paused when he saw five bedrooms and figured he’d have to look in each of them to find out which one was the child’s. Two of them were so nondescript and decayed that he couldn’t tell what kind of room it had once been. He found what had to be the master bedroom only because it was twice the size of the other rooms, which left only two left.

Instincts told him he’d probably only get one more chance to guess right, so he grabbed the left door handle. It squeaked like nails on a chalkboard when he turned it and he winced. One of the hinges broke when he tried to open it and it almost fell on him. But when he peered from the threshold, he saw that it was indeed a child’s bedroom.

Now all he had to do was wait, right?

As he idly entered and stood in the center of the room, his mind began to wander. He realized that he hadn’t been this nervous anywhere in a long time. Was it because…Doumeki was always there and he had…He had come to trust Doumeki, which wasn’t easy for the bespectacled boy to do. He might not like the archer, but he had trusted him that when he was there, nothing bad would happen to him, even from his own stupidity.

 _But he can’t always be here, so get a grip!_ Watanuki scolded himself. _You can’t always rely on that jerk. He’s got his own priorities and all, like that competition at school! You can’t expect that he’d drop everything, no matter what it was, to come to save your ass. He loves archery; there’s no way he’d risk the competition and his team’s chance of winning for **you.** Come on, you’ve had this problem your whole life, you can deal with it. Just because Doumeki made it somewhat easier doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. He won’t be here always._

His internal monologue occupied so that he didn’t notice it. He didn’t even feel pain until wetness on his cheek startled him. He lifted his hand and when he pulled it away with a sting of pain, he saw that something had cut his cheek and he was bleeding.

“What—?”

Then the room exploded in chaos. Things began flying around and most of it headed in his direction so that he had to duck and dodge at a fantastic rate of speed. He _knew_ things just weren’t as easy as Yuuko had made it out to be. When a dresser gave a resounding crunch against the floor and made a spectacular hole in the ground so that he could see the lower level, he fell to the ground and his bag bounced to his right.

The music box!

He dove for his bag frantically and dug out the box, holding it up in the air while screaming, “Stop, stop! I just brought this for you, really!”

Things paused in midair and he peered open one eye. In the center of the mass, the air rippled and a translucent spirit of a girl could be seen. She seemed suspicious of him but floated over to him and peered at the box in his hand. As if unsure if it was the real thing, she took it from him and opened it. When a melody she obviously knew issued forth, all the things she had suspended in midair crashed against the floor, weakening it further and making it groan in such a way that Watanuki feared it might collapse.

Carefully, the spirit lifted a necklace where a ring was hanging on a chain. “Momma’s wedding ring,” the girl whispered and tears sparkled in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Y-y-you’re welcome,” he stuttered and blinked as she smiled. It was barely a second after that that she disappeared, the jewelry box falling to the ground and shattering.

The ring and necklace were nowhere to be seen.

When there was a splintering sound, he watched as the heavy dresser finally fell through to crash down on the lower levels. Fearing that other things would fall and onto the rickety stairs no less, he grabbed his bag and hurried ran from the room.

Thankfully, the floor managed to support his way until he was out of the house. The tense atmosphere was gone now and he figured the angry spirit had finally moved on. It was still raining when he stepped out and he held his schoolbag over his head as he jogged down the street.

As he turned the corner, trying to reverse Yuuko’s directions so he knew how to get out, he stopped. Right there, in front of him, was a very soaked Doumeki. He still wore his practice gear and he clutched a bow in his hand tightly. He must be so uncomfortable in that all wet, was Watanuki’s idle thought.

“What are you doing here?” he asked curiously. “Don’t you still have practice?”

Doumeki’s lips turned down into a frown and Watanuki blinked. He tilted his head in surprise as the archer stalked up to him slowly. Given how angry his expression seemed to be, when the other boy lifted his arm, Watanuki thought he might hit him. When he tensed, preparing to flinch away, warmth permeated into his stinging cheek.

“You got cut.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I forgot about it. I don’t think it’s still bleeding, though.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Given his monologue before, he looked away and fell back onto his old, comforting standby. “It was just going to a house and giving a spirit some jewelry box. It wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t think I had to go _all_ the way back to school to get you. It didn’t take more than half an hour! Besides it was _you_ that told me not to come to the archery grounds. You’ve got that whole competition thing going on.”

“Do you think that archery is more important than you are?”

He turned back toward the expressionless boy in front of him and his blue eye was somewhat bitter and irritated. “Of course! Why wouldn’t it be? You love the damn thing, why shouldn’t it be?”

That hand touching his cheek moved to cup his chin, much to Watanuki’s surprise, and he suddenly remembered the question he was going to ask and the conclusions he had reached a week ago. He swallowed a bit nervously, for some reason.

“I’d drop everything if you said you needed me for anything.”

“Yeah right. You’d never risk the chance of winning the competition for an annoying guy like me who professes he hates you every chance he gets.”

“Yes, I would.”

The quiet words silenced him for a bit. “Doumeki?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like me?”

Doumeki didn’t say anything for a moment, but also didn’t move his hand. “Yeah, I do,” he whispered, words almost drowned out by the rain.

“Why? I yell at you all the time, I’m not grateful for your help, and I hate you, remember?”

The archer shook his head. “That doesn’t matter.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you. Whatever makes you happy, I’ll take.”

Watanuki couldn’t find a thing to say. His throat was locked up and he was experiencing a very fast pounding of his heart against his ribs. It was the first time anyone had ever confessed to him before and he wasn’t sure how to react, especially since this person was a guy and a rival.

“So?”

“So what?”

“So what’s your answer?”


	8. A Dangerous Business

Doumeki slammed his fist onto the top of the dresser in his bedroom after he’d washed and changed. It was the only thing he could do to let out his frustration. He could still remember the softness of Watanuki’s cheek, but it didn’t do anything but make him angrier. Watanuki never listened! He should have come back to the school to get him, even for such a simple job as Watanuki described. When had he ever given the other boy the impression that archery came first between the two of them?

_“So what’s your answer?”_

_“Answer?”_

_“To my feelings.”_

_“Doumeki…I…Just give me some time.”_

He had been shocked, to tell the truth, that the answer out of Watanuki’s mouth hadn’t been an automatic no. Given that it wasn’t, he didn’t know how to proceed or even react. Did this mean he could have hope or would it be forever impossible?

It had taken all the willpower he’d been able to summon to keep calm in front of Watanuki when they’d met in the rain. Yelling would have done no good and would have only made the other boy defensive. When he’d saw the cut on Watanuki’s cheek, he’d had his resolve to yelling waver. Sure, it hadn’t been a big thing, but it _could have been_. What would he do without that loud, loveable boy in his life if something ever happened?

“Shizuka, did you take a bath? If you didn’t, you’ll catch a cold from the rain!”

He heard his mother’s faint voice from somewhere in the house and sighed. He’d told his parents that his practice had gone over and that was why he had gotten so wet, not that he had ran through the rain to find a precious, spirit-attracting boy. It was not that he begrudged them the knowledge, but that if he told them, they’d only worry and possibly prevent him from doing what was needed for Watanuki.

The answer he gave back his mother was an affirmative and then he sank down onto his bed, still shivering from the cold of the rain and the after-effects of his confession. True, Watanuki had asked and then he had given a positive answer, but that didn’t mean the effort to say it hadn’t been just as great as if he had had to say it without the other party having any clue about it.

With a sigh, Doumeki slid under the sheets of his futon. He fully expected Watanuki to avoid him tomorrow.

**

Contrary to what he had predicted, Watanuki didn’t go out of his way to avoid him. He was actually waiting for him by the school gate, before Doumeki had even gotten to school. Usually it was the other way around and he couldn’t help pausing next to the bespectacled boy that was obviously waiting for him. Could he possibly expect an answer now?

“I assume that you’ll be practicing today too at lunch, so here’s your stupid bento ahead of time. I have no interest in searching you out when I want to eat my lunch.”

Doumeki didn’t care what excuse Watanuki gave for not coming to the archery grounds, so long as he didn’t. He really did want him to, but at the same time didn’t. He liked being around Watanuki at all times, since Watanuki made him happy, but his heart wasn’t able to take it if Watanuki was there and lacking his left eye, was unable to see the danger coming. If Doumeki couldn’t make it in time, the boy could get seriously injured.

It was not a risk he cared to take.

“Stop looking at me so expectantly. I haven’t made my decision yet.”

Watanuki stomped off, but Doumeki could not help but remember the soft voice he spoke in just then. It had been so pretty and gentle and made him just want to drop everything and hold the boy in his arms as tightly as he could.

Gripping the lunch box to his chest, he headed for his own class.

**

“I’m looking forward to the archery competition. Are you going, Watanuki-kun?”

“I don’t know,” Watanuki answered the ever-present, smiling Himawari. He was upset at himself lately. When it came to Doumeki anything, he found himself waffling.

Last night, he should have said his answer was no right then; instead he had asked for time. Right then, he should have answered no to Himawari; instead he said he didn’t know. Why were things so suddenly complicated? It wasn’t fair at all.

And it wouldn’t be fair to Doumeki if he didn’t take that confession seriously. Even if Watanuki hated someone, he would take something like that seriously because he would want that himself. Especially after the whole mess with Himawari and what happened to her, he had to.

So this meant that he had to analyze every feeling he had for that stupid archer and figure out what they meant. He hadn’t ever really looked closely at what he felt before, just…happy at the way things were. Fawning over Himawari, yelling at Doumeki, working for Yuuko. These things…made him happy.

But ever since that day in the shop when he’d found out Himawari’s secret, things had changed. He had stopped fawning over her, and even found that his heart began to beat for her less and less as the weeks had gone on. He found that while yelling at Doumeki was satisfying, he also, strangely enough, enjoyed just going to the shrine and sitting in silence. The whole place was quiet in a way that his apartment wasn’t and if Doumeki sat there with him and didn’t say anything, he wasn’t a half-bad sort of guy.

Even working for Yuuko had changed. She was treating him differently. Before, she’d treated him like a child and teased him like a childhood friend had. Now it was, mostly, the same, but there were subtle differences in the way she looked at him. As if she was judging him capable of dealing with certain things on his own without her help that she would have offered at any other time.

He knew that there was no way things could have remained the same forever, but to think that it could all change so quickly…

“Watanuki-kun, how’s your eye doing? Will it get better soon?”

“Eh?” He reached up and touched the eye patch, letting his fingers linger over the fabric for a few seconds, reminding him why he’d done it. “I’m fine, Himawari-chan. I don’t think it’ll get better any time really soon, but who knows? I’m fine, though, if it doesn’t. It’s not like it’s affecting everything really terribly.”

He could see her concern, but there was nothing he could do about it. Even as the bell rang and he packed up his things for class, he went back to why he had sacrificed it in the first place. He had always told himself and Yuuko it was because of guilt and responsibility, since it was his fault, but what if it was more than that? Was it possible…that it _was_ more than that?

The longer he thought about it, the more irritated he became. He hated doing things over that he’d done and he _really_ hated thinking about the past, since the past was most oftentimes painful. Now, thanks to that stupid confession, he had to go over everything he had ever done with Doumeki and try to see if he had any special feelings.

This was going to take a long time.

**

“You’re quiet today, Watanuki.”

“I’m thinking.”

“About what?”

“None of your business.”

“Is it about Doumeki’s confession?”

Watanuki turned around, but there was no surprise on his face about the fact that she knew. In fact, he would have been surprised if she _hadn’t_ known. He frowned a little, but it wasn’t in irritation or anger.

“I’m surprised,” she commented, dropping her chin on her palm as she watched the girls play cards and Mokona keeping up a running commentary on who was winning. “For someone you say you hate, you’re taking his confession very seriously.”

“It would be rude, even to a rival and someone I hate, if I didn’t.”

“Really?” She finally looked at him. “For someone else, if it was someone they truly hated, they would never take it seriously and just answer no.”

“What are you trying to say?”

But the dimensional witch merely smiled. “Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll find out soon enough.”

That was odd. Yuuko was definitely changing how she treated him. Any other time and Watanuki was sure she would have teased him about it and said she’d tell him for a price, but now…He turned away and for the first time ever, his work that day was accomplished in complete silence on both his and his employer’s sides.

**

The day of the competition snuck up on both the archer and Watanuki. The week had seemed to blur so fast to both of them that it was upon them before they realized it. Watanuki had rarely seen Doumeki and hadn’t gone out of his way to meet him either. The week had passed with nary a glance at a distance figure and he had gotten so confused and introverted with his thoughts that he’d had Himawari go visit the archery grounds to give Doumeki his lunch. It had become a habit now that he didn’t even think twice about it to make Doumeki lunch, whether he asked for something specific or not.

“It’s after school, will you be going?”

“Eh?” he blinked, drawn out of his thoughts as Himawari peered at him as she stood next to his desk. It was the last class of the day and they were waiting for the teacher to show up. Most couldn’t wait to leave, but he was in no hurry either way. In fact, he wished time would slow down.

Watanuki had given himself a time limit: he had to come up with an answer by the time the competition ended. He figured that if he hadn’t had his answer by then, he never would. The only problem was that the closer the competition seemed, the worse his stomach got until it was being run dry with anxiety and nervousness.

“The competition.”

“Oh.” He looked down at the smooth wood of his desk. “Yes, I’ll be going.”

“Are you all right, Watanuki? I know that Doumeki is your best friend and you haven’t seen him all week. Do you miss him that much?”

Watanuki fought off his blush with all his strength. He had no idea what Himawari might think of either of them if she found out about Doumeki’s confession, but he didn’t want to let her know. At least not until he had given the stupid archer a definitive answer.

“I guess I do,” he muttered, and couldn’t have been more thankful that his teacher suddenly entered and signaled that all talking was over as he started the lesson.

The class went far too fast for Watanuki’s peace of mind and before he knew it, Himawari was taking his arm and tugging him along to the archery range. Today, the competition would be held on their home ground, which many thought might be an advantage. Watanuki didn’t know a hell of a lot about archery, but he personally couldn’t see as being in any sort of place an advantage or disadvantage.

He wished Himawari hadn’t found seats in the front row where he’d be easily visible to the archery members. He was afraid that if Doumeki saw him, it would distract the taller boy and he’d do poorly. But with him being pinned by people on all sides, there was no way that he could quietly slink away to somewhere else.

Now that the competition was finally here, his stomach was filling with butterflies the size of Yuuko’s hands and he desperately didn’t want it to end. What answer could he give? The whole week, all he’d done was think about everything they’d done together and true, he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t hate Doumeki. He actually even respected him somewhat and…well, yes, _probably_ liked him on a good day. He was also indeed grateful for all that Doumeki did for him too.

But did this mean love?

There was a thunk and he realized that it had already started while he’d been lost in his thoughts. He frowned. One of the members from the opposing team and gotten very close to the center of the target. Already he could see this match was going to be a very tough one to win.

The crowd was so hushed that he almost thought he could hear the breathing from the team members below. Both sides were doing exceptionally well, but they all knew that there would only be one winner that day. And finally, it was Doumeki’s turn. Just as he had predicted might happen, the other boy scanned the stands to find him and their eyes met. There was a fierce determination in that golden gaze and by the time it broke and Doumeki was aiming for his target, Watanuki was shivering.

He couldn’t remember a time when Doumeki’s gaze had been that intense before and even if it had, he doubted it had affected him like this until now. Even if he gave a negative answer to the archer, now that the confession was in the open, they both knew they could never go back to the way things were before.

The rest of the competition seemed to go by in a daze while he was still busy trying to decipher his complex and frankly, confusing emotions. Watanuki hung back, saying goodbye to Himawari and excusing himself from leaving by saying he wanted to wish Doumeki congratulations for his team having won the match. She seemed to think there was nothing out of the ordinary with that and he wished that it was that simple.

Watanuki stood in the shadow of the doorway as finally the last of the stragglers were gone from the clubroom and only Doumeki was left. As if the archer knew he was going to be there, he had waited for him.

“You don’t have to be so nervous.”

“Who says I’m nervous?” he retorted, entering the small room and closing the door behind him automatically.

Was it his imagination, or did Doumeki glance at his eye patch before turning away. “What are you doing here?”

It was no surprise that Doumeki would ask that, given that you might say that Watanuki had been avoiding him that week. Really, it was only to sort out his feelings and concentrate. If Doumeki were there, most likely, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what he had needed to do.

“I’m here to give you my answer.”


	9. A Dangerous Business

“I’m here to give you my answer.”

“Which is?”

Watanuki couldn’t understand how Doumeki could just stand there so calmly, with no expression on his face, while he waited for an answer like this. He wouldn’t be able to do it, he knew. He frowned a little and wrapped his arms around his stomach, glancing away for a bit before forcing his good eye to meet with the almost guarded ones of Doumeki’s.

With a suddenly dry throat and questioning why this was so damn hard, he began, “I’m not sure what answer you’re expecting, but this probably isn’t it. I’ve spent the whole week thinking about this and giving myself migraines over it. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t hate you, I guess. Not _really_ , though you are extremely annoying most of the time.” He took a deep breath to reign in on his emotions, since he was going off track. “I don’t…I don’t hate you and I _might_ like you. _Might_. I just…gah, this is too hard!” He blushed and couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. “It’s just so complicated!”

Doumeki didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Watanuki.”

“What?”

“Do you like being around me?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” he snapped.

“Just answer it.”

He ruffled his hair and looked indecisive for a bit before answering. “I don’t hate it. Lately, for the last few weeks or so, I feel relaxed, I guess. And…”

“And?”

“You’re safe,” he admitted with embarrassment. “If I’m around you, I don’t have to worry about spirits a lot. I mean, obviously there are still some that can come after me regardless, but when you’re around, I can go to places and do things that I couldn’t before.”

Doumeki was slowly approaching him and Watanuki was automatically backing up a little. Seeing this, the archer stopped. “Why did you sacrifice your eye for mine?”

“Because it was my fault in the first place. If I hadn’t gotten tangled…”

“Is that all? Just responsibility?”

“I…no…I…”

Watanuki’s back was against the door as Doumeki began to approach him more and he watched as gently, the archer touched his cheek. “It’s okay, Watanuki. You don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s fine.”

“See, this is what I hate about you!” he snapped, irritated at Doumeki’s attitude. “I spend an entire _week_ of my life, consumed by trying to figure out these complicated things and feelings going on in my head and you just brush off all that hard work with a ‘don’t have to think about it anymore’! You yell at me for being too soft and self-sacrificing, but what about you?! Damn it, you piss me off! I bet next you’re going to tell me you won’t be around anymore so I don’t have to see you and feel guilty about you liking me, huh?”

“Would that bother you?”

“Yes, it would, you jerk! Weren’t you listening?! I feel _safe_ when you’re around! It’s fun yelling at you and I always feel lighter after I do that!”

“Were you upset when you thought that archery was more important than you?”

Watanuki was too irritated to notice the strange glint in Doumeki’s eyes as he pressed the issue. “Yes! Stupid! You’re supposed to protect _me_! Isn’t that why you’re always there! You say that you like me, but you obviously like archery better, since you told me not to _bother_ you when I come to this place!”

It was a little too late to notice the sudden smirk on Doumeki’s face, but Watanuki was a little dense. It took him several minutes to realize that he’d been trapped. “You…! You did the whole ‘don’t have to think about it anymore’ on purpose, didn’t you?!”

Doumeki let go of his cheek and shrugged. While the smile that had been on his lips was gone, he could still see it lingering in his eyes. “Of course. I’ve been around you for a while now, Watanuki. When you’re angry, you’re at your most honest, because you never think about what you say.”

The bespectacled floundered for a bit in silence before spitting out, “ _You’re as bad as Yuuko-san!_ ”

“It resolved it, didn’t it?”

“Resolved _what_?” he snapped, still put out at being tricked like that.

“Your feelings.”

“Eh?”

Doumeki shook his head with a sigh and he saw an indulgent smile flash ever so quickly over that face. “You obviously like me. You’re jealous when you thought archery was more important. You like being around me and I make you feel safe. You think our arguing is fun. Even an idiot could figure it out.”

“I hate you!” he spat and turned around to yank the door open and leave, mad at how things had turned out, but a gentle arm wrapped around his shoulders. When had Doumeki been so manipulative? He knew that the other boy hadn’t done it on purpose, but he hated it nonetheless. That way he’d never know if his feelings were real.

“Are you going to say sorry for manipulating me and confusing me even more?” he asked bitterly.

“No.”

“ _What?!_ ”

“Watanuki, _I love you_. It means a lot to me that you thought about my confession seriously.” Watanuki stared at the wood of the door in front of him, but wasn’t really seeing it. Another arm slid around his waist and suddenly the boy behind him was hugging him tightly. “But sometimes when you think about something too much, you miss the basic answer you’re looking for.”

“You tire me out,” he said, sighing and losing his anger. There was such gentleness in the arms that held him that he couldn’t keep it up. They almost seemed to be pleading for forgiveness and he realized then just how much Doumeki must have been in anxiety over his answer as much as he had been.

“Will you go out with me?”

Put the way Doumeki had, Watanuki could see why one might draw the conclusion that he had the same feelings. He was, like Himawari was often fond of saying, much more alive when the archer was there. And he recognized what he said as being true. It was just…how positive was he about it? He couldn’t deny that he had been jealous when he thought that archery was more important. And looking back on it, he realized that he _had_ been hurt when Doumeki had told him not to come to the archery range anymore.

Closing his eyes, knew there was no way to be truly sure except for one thing left. “If you do something for me, then I will give you a yes or no.”

“What?”

“Kiss me. I have to know for myself what I feel.”

It wasn’t enough that Doumeki had guided the conversation to show him what he felt, bringing the facts he had concluded right out into the open. His emotions just had to be sure and if he could kiss Doumeki and like it, then obviously, these things meant that he liked him. If he couldn’t, if it felt terrible, then he knew then too.

Doumeki didn’t say anything. Almost as if waiting for that, waiting for permission and holding himself back until he got it, a hand touched his chin and tilted his head so that their lips could meet. The position was awkward, since Doumeki still hadn’t let him go from behind, but there was no doubt after that.

Once the kiss had begun, all his indecision seemed to melt away and there was only one conclusion left: he loved Doumeki. Was he the sort that only learned through their bodies? Who knew. Maybe Doumeki was right and the reason he couldn’t see it was because he was thinking about it _too_ much. He wasn’t about to admit that the archer had been right, though.

The slow, sweet kiss ended and automatically, Watanuki licked his lips afterwards. Doumeki smirked, causing an indignant blush to appear on the smaller boy’s cheeks. “Hmph!”

“Well?”

Letting Doumeki stew for a few seconds more, Watanuki let go of the door handle in front of him that he still held onto. “Yes.”

Doumeki hugged him so tight after that, that he thought he wouldn’t be able to breathe.

**

Three days later, Watanuki broke the news to Himawari that he was dating Doumeki. She blinked and he swore, given that he was looking for it, surprise cross over her pretty features. He remembered Yuuko telling her that he had liked her when she’d first come to the dimensional witch about her wish. It was no wonder she found it surprising. He hadn’t really expected her to disapprove so when she gushed a bit too enthusiastically about him ‘finally finding happiness’, he wasn’t surprised.

“That’s wonderful, Watanuki-kun! I’m so happy for you!” She turned to his boyfriend who was busy stealing food from Watanuki’s lunch before the other boy could notice and yell at him for it. “Isn’t it great that your feelings were returned, Doumeki-kun?”

Both boys blinked and Watanuki rounded on Doumeki so fast that the archer didn’t even have time to plug his ears. “You jerk, you lied! You said you hadn’t told anyone about it, but you told Himawari-chan?!”

Doumeki’s mouth was full of food, but it didn’t matter, as the girl answered for him. “Oh, of course not, Watanuki-kun.”

“Then how did you…?”

She laughed and smiled brightly. “Watanuki-kun, it was _obvious_. I’ve been with the two of you for months and months now and it wasn’t hard to see that he was falling for you pretty hard.” Watanuki’s blush was growing the longer she talked and he felt distinctly uncomfortable. “It was you that was hard to guess. Sometimes I swore that you loved him right back and other times I wondered if you really _did_ hate him like you said. But love prevails after all!”

Given her smile, he would have never known what had happened to her a few weeks ago. Feeling suddenly guilty that he had gotten happiness when she hadn’t, he began, “Himawari-chan—”

“Oi.”

“ _My name is not oi!_ ” he returned, derailed with what he was about to say as he rounded again on his boyfriend sitting a little closer than he would have liked in school. He expected any minute for Doumeki drag him into his lap or something, as the archer seemed to be very interested in physical contact between the two of them. He just loved to hug the shorter boy.

“You’re cute when you blush. Do it more.”

“ _You…!_ Why do I even like you?!” he ranted, but was cut off when suddenly Doumeki kissed him, causing Himawari to giggle frantically behind her hand. Like he had obviously intended, Watanuki’s cheeks turned bright red.

“Better.”

“ _That’s it, we’re breaking up!_ ”

Doumeki only smiled and kissed him again.


End file.
